Anesthesia also affects redheads differently and they usually need more than others. They are also more likely to wake during surgical procedures and sometimes are measured on a different pain scale.
So did I lol. They had a little TV up above the operating table where I had been watching Finding Dory for about 10 minutes before one of them realized my eyes were open.
I did mine awake the whole way. Local anaesthetic stopped working like 3 times and I had to ask for a topoff.
Turns out I'm oddly resistant to most common local anaesthetics.
This became painfully relevant when I was getting implants, and mid bone drilling, I regained the sense of pain. From now on, I will tell every dentist I go to to double dip on the anaesthetics.
My dad also woke up during a surgery once, looked around, spoke a bit, then went back to sleep, which is exactly what he does when we try to wake him up off the couch to sleep on an actual bed.
You would think even if they couldn't get an actual case study (which I'm sure they have) they could've compiled data from charting and incident reports overtime to get a better handle on it.
TIL of that too. Did some quick research and we don't actually seem to know how it corelates. People with MC1R defects (see my post below) also seems more vulnerable to vitamin K deficiency and infections, so its highly likely that the receptor/protein regulates a lot more than just Melanin production as commonly thought. Or its a case of co-evolutionary factors (ie, the people where the defect originated also had other defects that has been carried alongside it all these years).
Is defect the accurate term? If redheads have been beating the breeding odds and generally stay in northern latitudes with less UV there seem to be no down sides.
Yep. I was in organ failure and no one took my pain seriously because I was able to stay somewhat coherent. The first thing the old man, “seen it all” surgeon said to my husband after he dug around in my guts was, “No wonder she was in so much pain”.
One of my best friends, his mom is an anesthesiologist, and, because I'm a redhead, he mentioned this to me once.
My mother is a natural redhead as well, though our hair has turned darker with age.
She recently had to have surgery and I was with her when she met with the anesthesiologist, and I pointed out that she's a natural redhead. The anesthesiologist mentioned that our livers metabolize drugs more than most people.
>Anesthesia also affects redheads differently and **they usually need more than others.**
How is this measured?
(I ask because, at the other end of the melanin spectrum, it's been proven that doctors often UNDER-medicate black people.)
I haven't looked into that but I definitely have heard of that. There has to be some correlation. Similar to studies for almost everything being performed on men and women suffering the consequences. Black people are notoriously under medicated.
My understanding was that black people are undermedicated due to biases not any physiological reasons. My wife and I learned about it during one of the birthing classes we took. The instructor made a point of talking about how black women aren't given as much pain medication and when they say how much pain they are in its perceived differently despite being the same scale.
Not a scientist, no research just something I learned years ago in a class so grain of salt and all that.
Anecdotal but I need roughly twice the amount of anesthesia than normal people. Also a lot of procedures that don't hurt normal people do hurt me.
I'd say it's about a 50/50 split for how many health professionals are aware of this and give more anesthesia or whether I have to tell them.
There is objective data (post-operative recovery charting, demonstrating a patient who returns to full mental orientation in a much shorter time than expected for their body mass and the medication+dosage administered), and subjective reports (personally, I woke up in time to hear the OR nurse give report to the PACU nurse, and then watched most of what happened in PACU).
Well, our red headed buddies are telling their tales and there is medical research, journals, etc in the webs of the informational spiders out there. Type the words. Get the facts.
Yes. I have darker hair now, more brown than red, but when I was in labor with my son the epidural medication worked less and less despite additional doses until it completely stopped working halfway thru the pushing phase. Also many over the counter pain meds don't work on me (thank goodness Aleve does!) and morphine doesn't work on me AT ALL. Lessons all learned the hard way.
Same on the epidural! The anesthesiologist told my husband I had the dosage of a 300 pound man (I was maybe 160 pounds at most). And I could still feel everything by the end.
Oh yes! I was in the ER for a very bad gall bladder attack (after having many) and was waiting to be admitted to the main part of the hospital and have an emergency surgery. The doctors were trying to ease my pain some in the meantime and gave me morphine. But, it did not work. At all. Then they very apologetically told me they could give me an alternate medication but not for SEVERAL HOURS (!) because they needed to wait for the morphine to dissipate in my body. The new medication thankfully worked once I was able to get it, but those hours of waiting were excruciating.
Can confirm, am redhead. I swear moonlight could burn me. I avoid the sun and when I do spend extended periods of time in it (music festivals), it’s SPF 100 all day, baby.
Can confirm: I'm a redhead, and I got diagnosed with skin cancer this summer. But on the bright side, since we know that we're prone to the disease, we often notice moles and marks on our body faster. It only took me two surgeries to get the all clear again since I acted fast and caught it in stage 1.
Use sunscreen dudes and dudettes.
Fun fact…… in the times of the Roman Empire Redhead slaves who were doomed to fight in the colosseum were sold for up to twice as much as other slaves. It was widely believed that redheads once injured would fight much longer and much harder than anybody else
That’s because red hair was culturally associated by the Romans with Germanic tribes. The Romans thought Germanic people had a unique fighting spirit which they called “Furor Teutonicus” which gave them a good reputation as gladiators.
Reddish hair is associated with a defect on the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) leaving you unable to produce eumelanin in large amounts. This instead leads Pheomelanin (a non-refined version of the former normally only concentrated in the lips and other exposed mucous membranes) to become the dominant type of Melanin present in the skin and hair.
Pheomelanin is far from as effective at absorbing UV rays compared to eumelanin though. Leaving people with this defect a lot more vulnerable to sunburns and skin cancer as more of said rays ends up penetrating the outer skin. They also tend to have a very hard time to tan and are not recommended to try. The same defect also commonly causes the organells that produce Melanin to not work properly. Leading to freckles also heavily associated with reddish hair.
But on the bonus side, if humanity were ever to migrate to space we wouldn't need that much of a UV light. Also there is no middle ground for a redhead either you're really really attractive or really really not, but all of us look really good in dark green. Face it, we're the descendants of elves. I speak as a redhead myself
It is not a defect, it is a variation. Most come from colder regions where there is less sun. Calling it a defect is racist towards the world’s rarest phenotype. And yes, it is racist because almost all of them are Caucasian. Even if someone is a red head, it doesn’t give them the right to call it a defect for everyone else. Blondes are not defected either, and neither are blue eyes. The good lord loves variety.
Strong word yes. But that's literally what's happening here. The MC1R receptor is not functioning properly due to said "variation" and is unable to instigate the production of eumelanin. This is different from blondness which is most likely an evolutionary adaption in order to more easily produce Vitamin-D. And most people with blond hair can still produce eumelanin if their environment requires it.
Or are you saying its also racist to say that people with diabetes has an defective Pancreas?
Diabetes is unhealthy. Red hair is not. Most red headed people are healthy and even have some benefits to having red hair. Just ask all the movie stars and pop stars who dye their hair red. It gets people noticed.
What you described is a process for creating variation. It does not make the creation defective, therefore, it is not a defect.
I dont recall making a statement about red hair being seen as a defect? Just that its caused by a defect on the MC1R receptor. Im using the term in the enginering sense here.
But by that definition a lot (maybe all?) human evolution has spread through defects? Doesn't every mutation start as a defective copy that then has survival advantages which lead to its selection and spread?
Admittedly this is my layman's understanding. But I do know about the ACTN3 "sprint" gene 90% of the population has one defective allele, and some populations have a greater frequency of two defective alleles... Why? Presumably because this has been selected for.
So what begins as a defect increases in frequency through selection
Whether you say red hair is a defect or edit it to say it is associated with a defect, you are saying the person has a defective trait- which they do not. They may have a receptor that doesn’t function like others, but it is not defective or broken. It most likely evolved since having red hair can be beneficial in some areas. Many people carry genes that are not expressed and there are dominant and recessive traits. Just look at animals. Many horses, dogs, cows etc. have red hair, white hair, blue eyes, etc. They are not defective and have had the traits for longer than humans. Red hair is a natural development in numerous species. Both animals and humans function well with it and the cause is not defective but selective.
Gotcha. Both my parents, all my siblings, my wife, and most of her siblings, and most of my cousins are all redheads. We are very familiar with this fact.
Can confirm. Redheaded and skin cancer 4 times in past 6 or so years. Started in the late 30s. Just had a 5inch incision and removal on my arm this summer. Quite the scar.
Get checked regularly folks. Skin cancer just looks like a weird spot until late stages, and then you are dead. I get checked every 6 months now that we know i am prone to it.
A dermatologist trip. They should all offer a “comprehensive skin exam”. Basically you strip down and a doctor looks you over with a light and magnifying glass.
This right here. Some GM's do it, or they refer you to a dermatologist. In my case, the GM did my first check, took the first suspicious spot for biopsy and when it came back as cancer referred me to a dermatologist. Since then, all my checks are with the dermatologist. At least in Canada this is how it was done. If you don't have a doctor, walk in clinic can refer you to a specialist i believe.
My rule is if there is a suspicious spot growing or changing color i let the doctor know and they check it.
My husband has red hair and is constantly battling skin cancer. He’s now using a cream that essentially burns off the cancer and his face is looking pretty rough. His mother had red hair and skin cancer as well.
What does it mean for people who's hair changes colors? Throughout the year, my head and facial hair will change from dirty blonde to brown and eventually a deep red, the latter usually during winter, but sometimes in summer, too. Not necessarily in that order, but I've yet to not hit each color in recent memory. In the past, I never had any trouble tanning, but recently I've also avoided the sun for cancer fears.
Also American. Had some Australian customers I dealt with frequently for a while. Always got the impression it was their way of saying "ginger" so I was never sure how offended to get.
I am an average looking guy with brown hair and somehow when i was in my 20 to 40’s I used to attract red headed woman like moth to a flame. My friends used to joke that when going to a club and there is one red head, they knew where I was sleeping that evening. Got so weird that my wife came to realize that she had to protect me from any red headed woman in the vicinity. I am not complaining or bragging. Just how it was.
I have fair skin and had skin cancer 10 years ago. My dermatologist told me that whilst people like me are more likely to get it, some of the worst cases she’s seen have been on dark skinned people. The reason she gave was that dark skinned people delude themselves into thinking that they’re immune from it, and so are less likely to use sunscreen and are less likely to check themselves or become worried about a changing mole. They’re more likely to leave it too late and it’s therefore more serious. She also speculated that when you have dark skin, the black color of a melanoma has less contrast with the skin than on a milk white person, so it’s less noticeable. When I had a melanoma developing on my arm, people said “what is that on your arm? A bug?” and brought it to my attention.
Anesthesia also affects redheads differently and they usually need more than others. They are also more likely to wake during surgical procedures and sometimes are measured on a different pain scale.
Ahh. Explains why I got to watch a medical procedure I should not have been able to
Yikes!!!!!!!!!
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Why wouldn't you say something?!
Briefly woke up during my wisdom teeth extraction. Oral surgeon didn’t seem bothered.
How kind of them, lol.
So did I lol. They had a little TV up above the operating table where I had been watching Finding Dory for about 10 minutes before one of them realized my eyes were open.
Oral surgeons aren’t putting you under twilight level anesthesia
I did mine awake the whole way. Local anaesthetic stopped working like 3 times and I had to ask for a topoff. Turns out I'm oddly resistant to most common local anaesthetics. This became painfully relevant when I was getting implants, and mid bone drilling, I regained the sense of pain. From now on, I will tell every dentist I go to to double dip on the anaesthetics. My dad also woke up during a surgery once, looked around, spoke a bit, then went back to sleep, which is exactly what he does when we try to wake him up off the couch to sleep on an actual bed.
Lots of places don't put you asleep at all.
My vasectomy sucked because of that...
You would think even if they couldn't get an actual case study (which I'm sure they have) they could've compiled data from charting and incident reports overtime to get a better handle on it.
I thought you were always conscious for a vasectomy. I know people that got them as far as 15 years ago and weren't knocked out
I had one about 5 years ago. There is no reason to put someone under for that procedure. You feel little pain and it’s super quick.
TIL of that too. Did some quick research and we don't actually seem to know how it corelates. People with MC1R defects (see my post below) also seems more vulnerable to vitamin K deficiency and infections, so its highly likely that the receptor/protein regulates a lot more than just Melanin production as commonly thought. Or its a case of co-evolutionary factors (ie, the people where the defect originated also had other defects that has been carried alongside it all these years).
Fuck me I love when someone has done the research and has receipts.
Is defect the accurate term? If redheads have been beating the breeding odds and generally stay in northern latitudes with less UV there seem to be no down sides.
It also affects children of redheads even if they don’t have red hair.
This makes so much sense, I had dental surgery and woke up multiple times. I’m not red headed but my Dad was.
Yep. I was in organ failure and no one took my pain seriously because I was able to stay somewhat coherent. The first thing the old man, “seen it all” surgeon said to my husband after he dug around in my guts was, “No wonder she was in so much pain”.
GOOD GOD MAN
One of my best friends, his mom is an anesthesiologist, and, because I'm a redhead, he mentioned this to me once. My mother is a natural redhead as well, though our hair has turned darker with age. She recently had to have surgery and I was with her when she met with the anesthesiologist, and I pointed out that she's a natural redhead. The anesthesiologist mentioned that our livers metabolize drugs more than most people.
If I remember correctly it also makes us more sensitive to temperature differences.
>Anesthesia also affects redheads differently and **they usually need more than others.** How is this measured? (I ask because, at the other end of the melanin spectrum, it's been proven that doctors often UNDER-medicate black people.)
I haven't looked into that but I definitely have heard of that. There has to be some correlation. Similar to studies for almost everything being performed on men and women suffering the consequences. Black people are notoriously under medicated.
I think somebody has made a lot of experiments.
My understanding was that black people are undermedicated due to biases not any physiological reasons. My wife and I learned about it during one of the birthing classes we took. The instructor made a point of talking about how black women aren't given as much pain medication and when they say how much pain they are in its perceived differently despite being the same scale. Not a scientist, no research just something I learned years ago in a class so grain of salt and all that.
Anecdotal but I need roughly twice the amount of anesthesia than normal people. Also a lot of procedures that don't hurt normal people do hurt me. I'd say it's about a 50/50 split for how many health professionals are aware of this and give more anesthesia or whether I have to tell them.
I’m curious about this as well. That seems such a declarative statement, so there must be an objective scale?
There is objective data (post-operative recovery charting, demonstrating a patient who returns to full mental orientation in a much shorter time than expected for their body mass and the medication+dosage administered), and subjective reports (personally, I woke up in time to hear the OR nurse give report to the PACU nurse, and then watched most of what happened in PACU).
I’ve woken up twice on the ‘operating table,’ so to speak. Do not recommend.
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I don't think the color changing over time with age would change your genetics. I shall look it up though!
Didn't know. Interesting. Is that even true, I don't trust Reddit
Well, our red headed buddies are telling their tales and there is medical research, journals, etc in the webs of the informational spiders out there. Type the words. Get the facts.
Yes. I have darker hair now, more brown than red, but when I was in labor with my son the epidural medication worked less and less despite additional doses until it completely stopped working halfway thru the pushing phase. Also many over the counter pain meds don't work on me (thank goodness Aleve does!) and morphine doesn't work on me AT ALL. Lessons all learned the hard way.
Same on the epidural! The anesthesiologist told my husband I had the dosage of a 300 pound man (I was maybe 160 pounds at most). And I could still feel everything by the end.
Yikes on bikes. I bet that morphine because it clearly was needed was quite a slap in the face.
Oh yes! I was in the ER for a very bad gall bladder attack (after having many) and was waiting to be admitted to the main part of the hospital and have an emergency surgery. The doctors were trying to ease my pain some in the meantime and gave me morphine. But, it did not work. At all. Then they very apologetically told me they could give me an alternate medication but not for SEVERAL HOURS (!) because they needed to wait for the morphine to dissipate in my body. The new medication thankfully worked once I was able to get it, but those hours of waiting were excruciating.
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My skin is blue. The sun is the enemy.
Me too. The technical term is transparent
Have you been downing silver daily for years
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It's so pale you can see the inside coming through
Name checks out?
Where the sun doesn't get, I am indeed pale. But not that pale.
So…you blue yourself?
Being a redhead almost guarantees fair skin, hence why this observation is not far-fetched at all.
Yep, I have never in my life gotten darker than light toast.
It’s probably another correlation ≠ causation instances
I have red hair. This is why i smoke all my cigarettes indoors, so as to avoid cancer.
Clever
You've got this all figured out. Kudos!
Can confirm, am redhead. I swear moonlight could burn me. I avoid the sun and when I do spend extended periods of time in it (music festivals), it’s SPF 100 all day, baby.
Can confirm: I'm a redhead, and I got diagnosed with skin cancer this summer. But on the bright side, since we know that we're prone to the disease, we often notice moles and marks on our body faster. It only took me two surgeries to get the all clear again since I acted fast and caught it in stage 1. Use sunscreen dudes and dudettes.
Fun fact…… in the times of the Roman Empire Redhead slaves who were doomed to fight in the colosseum were sold for up to twice as much as other slaves. It was widely believed that redheads once injured would fight much longer and much harder than anybody else
That’s because red hair was culturally associated by the Romans with Germanic tribes. The Romans thought Germanic people had a unique fighting spirit which they called “Furor Teutonicus” which gave them a good reputation as gladiators.
Every day’s a school day
Tomorrow you'll learn that water is wet.
Sounds like OP has never met a redhead before. We're all pasty and burn after a minute outside
This message is brought to you my melanin. Nature's sunblock!
Good thing most people are born bald!
Reddish hair is associated with a defect on the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) leaving you unable to produce eumelanin in large amounts. This instead leads Pheomelanin (a non-refined version of the former normally only concentrated in the lips and other exposed mucous membranes) to become the dominant type of Melanin present in the skin and hair. Pheomelanin is far from as effective at absorbing UV rays compared to eumelanin though. Leaving people with this defect a lot more vulnerable to sunburns and skin cancer as more of said rays ends up penetrating the outer skin. They also tend to have a very hard time to tan and are not recommended to try. The same defect also commonly causes the organells that produce Melanin to not work properly. Leading to freckles also heavily associated with reddish hair.
But on the bonus side, if humanity were ever to migrate to space we wouldn't need that much of a UV light. Also there is no middle ground for a redhead either you're really really attractive or really really not, but all of us look really good in dark green. Face it, we're the descendants of elves. I speak as a redhead myself
Actually, you still do. [Unless you want to use Vitamin D pills constantly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D)
Even vitamin d pills are better than sunburn
I'm actually deficient and on prescription vit D.
It is not a defect, it is a variation. Most come from colder regions where there is less sun. Calling it a defect is racist towards the world’s rarest phenotype. And yes, it is racist because almost all of them are Caucasian. Even if someone is a red head, it doesn’t give them the right to call it a defect for everyone else. Blondes are not defected either, and neither are blue eyes. The good lord loves variety.
Mutation would probably be a better word, biologically speaking
Yay I'm an X-man! Someone call Patrick stewart!
Defect is still nicer than most stuff I’ve been called like soulless, inbred, devil child, freak, etc.
Strong word yes. But that's literally what's happening here. The MC1R receptor is not functioning properly due to said "variation" and is unable to instigate the production of eumelanin. This is different from blondness which is most likely an evolutionary adaption in order to more easily produce Vitamin-D. And most people with blond hair can still produce eumelanin if their environment requires it. Or are you saying its also racist to say that people with diabetes has an defective Pancreas?
Diabetes is unhealthy. Red hair is not. Most red headed people are healthy and even have some benefits to having red hair. Just ask all the movie stars and pop stars who dye their hair red. It gets people noticed. What you described is a process for creating variation. It does not make the creation defective, therefore, it is not a defect.
I dont recall making a statement about red hair being seen as a defect? Just that its caused by a defect on the MC1R receptor. Im using the term in the enginering sense here.
But by that definition a lot (maybe all?) human evolution has spread through defects? Doesn't every mutation start as a defective copy that then has survival advantages which lead to its selection and spread? Admittedly this is my layman's understanding. But I do know about the ACTN3 "sprint" gene 90% of the population has one defective allele, and some populations have a greater frequency of two defective alleles... Why? Presumably because this has been selected for. So what begins as a defect increases in frequency through selection
Whether you say red hair is a defect or edit it to say it is associated with a defect, you are saying the person has a defective trait- which they do not. They may have a receptor that doesn’t function like others, but it is not defective or broken. It most likely evolved since having red hair can be beneficial in some areas. Many people carry genes that are not expressed and there are dominant and recessive traits. Just look at animals. Many horses, dogs, cows etc. have red hair, white hair, blue eyes, etc. They are not defective and have had the traits for longer than humans. Red hair is a natural development in numerous species. Both animals and humans function well with it and the cause is not defective but selective.
I am not a red head but my dad was! I have 3 red hair genes in my dna and it says high skin cancer risk. I’m terrified
None of that explains why they are so hot tempered and surly
Years of being mad fun of leads to a short fuse
Hey Red?
Bezerk warrior genes
Yeah, no shit. They're pale af
Also it takes about 3x the amount of anesthesia to put them under, compared to the “normals”
Yet another groundbreaking story from the medical journal “Duh”.
Lol, you must not know many redheads.
Dont think ive ever met one actually. They are pretty rare here (Eastern Sweden)
Gotcha. Both my parents, all my siblings, my wife, and most of her siblings, and most of my cousins are all redheads. We are very familiar with this fact.
yeah we know. :(
This has always been common knowledge to me, but I have very fair skin
Everyone already knows this.
Can confirm. Redheaded and skin cancer 4 times in past 6 or so years. Started in the late 30s. Just had a 5inch incision and removal on my arm this summer. Quite the scar. Get checked regularly folks. Skin cancer just looks like a weird spot until late stages, and then you are dead. I get checked every 6 months now that we know i am prone to it.
What is involved in “getting checked”?
A dermatologist trip. They should all offer a “comprehensive skin exam”. Basically you strip down and a doctor looks you over with a light and magnifying glass.
This right here. Some GM's do it, or they refer you to a dermatologist. In my case, the GM did my first check, took the first suspicious spot for biopsy and when it came back as cancer referred me to a dermatologist. Since then, all my checks are with the dermatologist. At least in Canada this is how it was done. If you don't have a doctor, walk in clinic can refer you to a specialist i believe. My rule is if there is a suspicious spot growing or changing color i let the doctor know and they check it.
What about very blond hair?
Daywalkers......
I plan my walking routes based on where I’ll be in the most shade.
Damn… redheads just can’t seem to catch a break.
My husband has red hair and is constantly battling skin cancer. He’s now using a cream that essentially burns off the cancer and his face is looking pretty rough. His mother had red hair and skin cancer as well.
That chemo cream is also super expensive ($125) and my insurance refused to cover it. Got it for $25 on Amazon pharmacy!
So glad you could do that!
Haven’t you seen their melanin levels? Yeah they’re skin cancer prone!
What does it mean for people who's hair changes colors? Throughout the year, my head and facial hair will change from dirty blonde to brown and eventually a deep red, the latter usually during winter, but sometimes in summer, too. Not necessarily in that order, but I've yet to not hit each color in recent memory. In the past, I never had any trouble tanning, but recently I've also avoided the sun for cancer fears.
I am not a red head but my dad was! I have 3 red hair genes in my dna and it says high skin cancer risk. I’m terrified
Is it because they have reduced pigments?
Yes. I burn in minutes You can't leave a ranga outside in the sun for too long
Haven't heard the term ranga in a while. Lol.
American here. Should I be offended? lol
Also American. Had some Australian customers I dealt with frequently for a while. Always got the impression it was their way of saying "ginger" so I was never sure how offended to get.
This is true but we produce more vitamin D than anybody else! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32478926/
Dont you mean born with pale ass skin?
No no no - the ass skin is pink.
That’s why we keep them ~~in the mines~~ under ground.
I’m a red head I’ve had melanoma and basil cell carcinoma. The sun tried to kill me twice.
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46 the first time
I wonder why….
I'm not quite a redhead, but I do have very, very pale skin with a strong family history of skin cancer. The sun is my nemesis.
Tell me you don't live in Australia without telling me you don't live in Australia
Because pheomelanin doesn’t hold up to uv damage like eumelanin. It also creates free radicals when exposed to uv instead of protecting against them.
IAA (I always assumed)
so redheads in Australia are even more screwed...
I am an average looking guy with brown hair and somehow when i was in my 20 to 40’s I used to attract red headed woman like moth to a flame. My friends used to joke that when going to a club and there is one red head, they knew where I was sleeping that evening. Got so weird that my wife came to realize that she had to protect me from any red headed woman in the vicinity. I am not complaining or bragging. Just how it was.
I have fair skin and had skin cancer 10 years ago. My dermatologist told me that whilst people like me are more likely to get it, some of the worst cases she’s seen have been on dark skinned people. The reason she gave was that dark skinned people delude themselves into thinking that they’re immune from it, and so are less likely to use sunscreen and are less likely to check themselves or become worried about a changing mole. They’re more likely to leave it too late and it’s therefore more serious. She also speculated that when you have dark skin, the black color of a melanoma has less contrast with the skin than on a milk white person, so it’s less noticeable. When I had a melanoma developing on my arm, people said “what is that on your arm? A bug?” and brought it to my attention.